Caution urged over fire displaced

INLSASinalo Nomtebeyi, Noluvuyo Gwavu and Phumeza Yokwe look at the burnt-out shack in which Anele Mkele died Picture: David Ritchie

Cape Town - The Western Cape government's relocation of 854 families who lost their homes in a fire BM Section, Khayelitsha, needed to be handled with caution, the IFP said on Friday.

The party was “encouraged” by the help the province was offering the families, Inkatha Freedom Party spokesman on housing Phendulani Biyase said in a statement.

However, the plan needed to be “approached with extreme caution”.

“Although the IFP is not against assistance being offered to the Khayelitsha residents, we question the wisdom of moving them to housing that residents of Mfuleni have been on the waiting list for,” Biyase said.

He claimed that some Mfuleni residents had threatened violence because they felt they had been overlooked.

“Another question arises as to what will happen when residents are asked to leave and they refuse to go,” he said.

On New Year's Day a fire swept through BM Section, destroying hundreds of shacks.

Luyanda Ngcebetshane, Sivuyile Gqodo, Nkosiyako Lako, and Zukile Magada were killed in the blaze. A fifth person, Lunga Krexe, later died in hospital. - Sapa

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